The Northern Lights
by deetatarant
Summary: AU: Set start of season two.... Ianto is running Torchwood Two and Jack has just come back from that year, not to mention the strange lights in the sky.....
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This is AU set at the start of season two all TW characters remain the same... so it's not massively uncannon.**

**Dedicated to Lucy who isn't a fan fic person at all but she is one of my best buddies....**

**'A TASTE FOR DEATH' IS GOING TO BE RE WRITTEN DUE TO MASSIVE PLOT HOLES AND EXTREME CRAPPINESS ON THE PART OF MY WRITING.... SO I DECIDED TO START SOMETHING NEW AND HOPE I DO BETTER.........**

**NORTHERN LIGHTS: PART ONE**

**It was a beautiful night** and Ianto could only marvel at the sight of the stars glistening above him in the black. He had to privately admit that he loved it up in Scotland away from his demons and his memories. He was glad that he had listened to Mel and stayed on after getting Torchwood Two back on its proverbial feet. He enjoyed running the show and no one from Cardiff interfered, trusting him to get on. It didn't matter that he was in fact the senior most member of the Torchwood institute now that Jack was gone. He had wanted to leave within days of Gwen taking charge. It wasn't that he objected to her taking the initiative, he just hated being in that Hub with Lisa's ghost and the pitying stares from Owen and Tosh as he went about his work in Jack's absence. Ianto was ready to move on. He had hoped, for the briefest of moments, that Jack's disappearance was not of his own free will, but Jack had fled and Ianto had foundered in the wake of it. He knew how pathetic that made him, but Jack had pulled him back from the brink of madness and become his anchor and Ianto was lost without his steady presence. Now he had this, his own branch of Torchwood, people who looked up to him, who respected him and people he liked to work with. Ianto missed Tosh and even Owen but he was glad to be away from Gwen, he had never really got along with her, didn't trust her. Still, she was proving to be effective in her running of Torchwood Three, he had to give her that.

He stood by the side of the road and gazed upwards for a moment before glancing at his watch. It was 21:56 hours so if the previous two nights were anything to go by then the light show would start in 4 minutes. Jordan his team mate was standing a short distance away, his young face illuminated by a pale yellow glow that came from his PDA. Ianto turned his gaze back to the heavens arching over them in the middle nowhere, well, not far from Loch Lomond in reality, though in this darkness it could have been anywhere. The only sounds being the occasional fox bark and the screeching of a distant owl. The air was bitter with chill, but still as glass and Ianto was quietly grateful because last night there had been a howling gale and he and Ben had been freezing their arses off, trying to take their readings from the inside of the SUV. Jordan's voice split the silence.

"Here they come."

Brilliant light burst into life above them and from out of nowhere three luminous spheres flitted across the black. They bobbed about the sky flitting around one another like silent fire flies. Ianto could feel the hairs on his neck tingle with the static that came with them and he watched in awe as they danced in the night sky. After a moment he raised his camcorder and began to record the display as Jordan took the readings.

"They're over the Loch again."

Ianto nodded. "I guess we need to go and follow them then."

Jordan led the way, a small flashlight aimed at the ground as they climbed a field gate and headed into the night.

Jack Harkness had to admit that he was sincerely glad to see the back of John Hart. He was happy to be home, for the most part but with the whole business of avoiding themselves for twelve hours came the time to ask some questions about what had been going on in his absence. Naturally he brushed aside all attempts from his team to find out what He had been doing as they sat in the hotel bar he looked at each member of team with affection. They were alive and apparently well and none the wiser as to the year that didn't happen, he was eternally grateful for that. Gwen had asked for answers and had yelled at him and when she had gone to bar to get a round in Owen had announced that the former police officer was going to marry Rhys. The engagement ring was nowhere in evidence and Owen knew damn well she'd slipped it off the moment Jack had stepped back into their lives. Jack had taken the news well and had congratulated Gwen the moment she had placed the tray of drinks on the table in front of them. She had glared at Owen with undisguised venom and Tosh and Owen exchanged grins at her expense. Jack was oblivious. He only had one overriding question for his team.

"So, is anyone going to tell me where Ianto is?"

Suddenly they were all looking in different directions and sipping their drinks, so Jack tried again because he was worried and disappointed in equal measure by the young man's absence.

"What happened to Ianto, where is he?"

It was Owen who finally spoke. "A few weeks after you left Archie Cavanagh had a fatal heart attack. Ianto now runs Torchwood Two. He went up there with the intention of closing it down, but he stayed. It's been very good up there actually, heaps better.... no disrespect to Archie but he was a drunken bumb and never got anything done. Ianto's turned the place around, recruited two staff and TW2..... well mate it's the dogs bollocks now." Owen was smiling uncomfortably.

Jack was glaring. "Why did he stay?"

Tosh then put down her vodka tonic and sighed. "He was..... he was devastated when you ran out on us Jack, all set to leave Torchwood and go to UNIT. They offered him a good job, but then Archie happened and Mel convinced him to go up there to help her sort things out. I think he just needed something."

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Don't be so maudlin Tosh, Ianto's having great time up there; he and Mel are really tight."

Owen picked up his pint. "Probably got something to do with the fact that he saved her life when the Cybermen were raging through Canary Wharf. The point is Glasgow is running at full tilt and the archive at Torchwood House is finally being fully catalogued and we have access to it and all the toys stored up there." He took a long deep draught of his beer and smacked his lips. "He's still miserable as sin, over neat and we are all suffering from massive coffee withdrawal and we want him back. We didn't realise how handy he was until he left."

Gwen baulked. "Rubbish, we're managing just fine. Simone is great, she runs the tourist office and does the stuff that Ianto did with no trouble." She enthused, smiling brightly at Jack.

Tosh winced. "She's a secretary with no brain."

"So was Ianto."

Three pairs of eyes turned to Gwen. "Whoa, that's a bit unkind." Owen responded, he had missed the quiet Welshman more than he cared to admit. "Ianto was bloody good and we were stupid to let him go, but he needed to leave, he was..... well he was pretty unhappy, still is as far as I can tell."

Jack sighed realising that it was probably his fault. He drank down his glass of water. "So how have the rest of you been?"

Owen smirked at the change of subject. "Yeah, we're good. Pissed at you for leaving but to be honest after what we did, who could blame you. We're ok Jack, really."

Tosh was nodding in agreement but also yawning. "Just glad you're home. You are staying aren't you?"

Jack smiled at her. "I can't promise that I won't disappear again, but next time you'll be told and I will come back as soon as I'm done."

Gwen leant against him and wrapped her arms around his. "Well just remember that we need you and we'd miss you if left us again."

Jack edged his arm out of her grip. "Tosh, do you have Ianto's phone number?"

She rummaged in her handbag and pulled out her mobile and passed it to Jack with a knowing smile.

"Go and call him and give it back in the morning." She encouraged.

Jack grinned at her and stood up. "I'm going to turn in, hopefully Ianto won't hang up on me." He turned in a swirl of coat tails and left for his room. Gwen watched him depart and then sighed, getting up herself.

"I'll see you two in the morning."

Owen narrowed his eyes at her departing back. "Subtlety never was her strong suit."

Tosh could only agree.

Melicia Singh was rather surprised when the phone rang in Ianto's office at 14:35am. Her boss was out investigating reports of strange lights in the sky not far from the city but she knew that he would not be back for at least another couple of hours. Clicking her tongue she trundled her wheelchair across the room and reached the door to the office just as the phone stopped ringing. The voice mail clicked in and her eyes turned saucer sized at sounds of Captain Harkness' voice.

"_Hey Ianto, it's Jack. I'm home and you're not. Please pick up if you're there I really need to hear those beautiful Welsh vowels...... I've missed you so much..... I've got Tosh's phone for the night, please call....."_

Mel reached into her pouch which was secured to the right arm of her wheelchair and pulled out her mobile. She dialled her boss' number and Ianto picked up straight away and she was greeted by his sombre tone.

"Hi Mel, everything ok?"

"Yes, boss. I thought you should know there's a message for you from Captain Jack Harkness. I'm guessing he's back in Cardiff."

She heard his breath hitch down the phone.

"I see. Well I will have to deal with it in the morning."

"You got pretty lights out there again?"

"Yes, three of them this time, Jordan and I are on our way back now, they stopped at 2am again so we should be with you in half an hour."

Mel smiled. "I'll get the coffee pot on then."

"Thank's Mel, you're a life saver."

She said good bye and hung up. With phone in her lap she gripped the wheels of her chair and made her way to the kitchenette behind her work station. The floor of 'Scot Hub' no longer the obstacle course it once was when Archie was alive, she missed the old bugger but Ianto was a far more considerate boss and he always looked after her.

Ianto hung up, his heart sinking to his stomach, just when he'd got his life back on track. Shit!


	2. Chapter 2

**PART TWO**

"Hi Tosh, how are you?"

Toshiko smiled at her monitor, Ianto's sombre face gazing back at her for the morning video conference. It wasn't official and normally they managed it about three times a week.

"Hey there. You look tired." She sipped on her tea.

Ianto nodded. "We were out tracking those lights again last night, haven't been to bed yet." He turned his face from the web cam for a moment then back again. "I'm sending you the data now. I've no idea what it is we are dealing with. The MOD and local police insist it's nothing to do with them."

Tosh computer pinged on receipt of the files.

"I'll make it my priority this morning. Did you talk to Jack last night?" She had to ask, she was desperate to know what was said between them. Ianto was shaking his head.

"I was out when the call came through. I figured he'd try again this morning."

Tosh knew he was being evasive. "It's good to have him back, he's been asking about you."

Ianto was clearly trying to look disinterested. "Well I'm sure he'll call me back. I'll have to get the Torchwood Two logs ready for him, I imagine he'll want to look at them."

"Ianto...."

"Was there anything else Tosh?"

She sighed but shook her. "I miss you, when are you coming back?"

Ianto closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm not sure that I am. Things are going well here, I like it here and now that Jack is back I want to come back even less. I'm sorry Tosh, it's just me starting over. I have a chance to do some good up here. There's nothing to stop you coming up for a holiday, the scenery is lovely once you get out of Glasgow."

She had to admit to herself that she was really tempted. "I'll wait for the summer Ianto." She replied with a mischievous sparkle in her dark eyes.

"I'll hold you to that. Anyway I'm gonna grab a couple of hours sleep. I'll call you later to discuss those lights." He waved and then signed out.

Tosh leant back in her chair, suddenly aware of Jack's gaze on her.

"Was that Ianto?" He stepped forwards a mug of Simone's tea in his hand, he'd only just met her and liked the look, but not the tea.

"Yes, he just sent down some data for me to look at, strange lights over Loch Lomond in the night. I said I'd review their readings."

Jack plonked himself down in Gwen's chair quietly grateful that the woman hadn't come into work yet.

"He didn't call me back." He handed over her mobile phone. Tosh took it, noting the disappointment on his face.

"He was working most of last night Jack. He's expecting you to call him, said something about getting all the logs ready for you to review."

Jack nodded. "Yeah, that's standard procedure when there has been a change of leadership at a branch, guess I should call him then."

Tosh reached out and rested her hand on his knee. "Give him a couple of hours Jack, he's been up all night."

"Yeah, sure, so..... strange lights?" He tried valiantly to lift the mood with a cheeky grin.

Tosh returned her focus to the monitor and began opening up the files that Ianto had sent to her.

"Yes, doesn't look like anything serious, but it's been going on for a few nights now according to this......" She hesitated before facing Jack again. "Was it worth it Jack?"

He blinked confused.

"Was it worth it, I mean running away the way you did?"

Jack sucked in a long calming breath. "I got the answers I needed. The Doctor told me I was unfixable. I wanted to be..... I wanted to be normal Tosh and I hoped he could make me that way because I wanted so much to be able to come back here and spend the rest of my life....... well it doesn't matter." He trailed off looking away from her.

"Spend your life what Jack? It obviously does matter..... Jack?"

When he looked back to her face there were tears in his eyes and he wiped at them, angry that his emotions were betraying him.

"I just wanted a normal life. I came back for Ianto. When I was away, it put everything into perspective. I saw so many terrible things and all I wanted was to come home to him."

Tosh passed him a tissue from a little packet in her hand bag.

"Then tell him that."

"You don't think I'm too late?"

Tosh shrugged. "I don't know Jack. Your leaving hit him really hard. We were all hurt by what you did, but Ianto just lost his way. In some ways I think Archie's death was fortuitous. Ianto's done good things up in Glasgow."

Jack was glad about that. "I had to go Tosh and I am sorry I left the way I did, but I am not sorry that I went. I waited a long time, Ianto knows that. I was hoping he would understand."

"He thought you were waiting to be reunited with a long lost lover Jack. He told me how much you talked about the Doctor and Rose, he said he could never match up to them. You never once told Ianto how you felt, did you?"

Jack shook his head. "No, not in so many words. I don't think I really knew until after I was gone and I was stuck in a place where I had plenty of time to think about it. I love him Tosh."

"Then get on a train to Glasgow and go and sort things out. We can manage here with out you for a few more days."

Jack nodded. "Can you put all of the data he's sent you onto a lap top?"

Tosh nodded.

"Good. I'm just gonna pack a bag. Can you handle breaking the news to Gwen and Owen?"

"Go on, just go Jack sort it out one way or the other and if he turns you down, you come straight back here, because we still need you and love you." She got up and hugged him and Jack enfolded her in his arms, his little, beautiful Toshiko.

"Thanks Tosh."

An hour later and Jack was on a train to Birmingham New Street to pick up his connection to Glasgow Central. Gwen and Owen were not impressed by his disappearing act but as soon as Owen found out Jack had gone to Glasgow he kept himself from commenting. He was entirely grateful for the weevil alert that got him and Tosh out of the Hub. Simone hid herself in the tourist office to keep out of Gwen's way.

Ianto sat in his customary place in the boardroom. Torchwood Two was somewhat different in the regard that it was situated in a large converted Georgian House. The upper most floor had been Archie's flat, shared with his Labrador Boris, it was now Ianto's home. The ground and first floors were dedicated to the running of the smaller less active branch of the organisation. On Ianto's arrival 4 months previously it had been a mess of box files, stale coffee cups and malfunctioning equipment. Mel, who was restricted to the ground floor because of her wheelchair had done her best to cope with Archie's eccentricities but Ianto had been left with a monster mess to sort out. In the end he was grateful for the distraction. He spent the first month, cleaning and sorting. He got a contractor in to install a compact lift to the first floor, he had a kitchen, bathroom and locker room added to the back of the house and recruited two men, one from UNIT and another from the British Navy. Jordan was from Brighton, a ten year veteran of UNIT as a communications specialist with a degree in Astronomy from Oxford and Ben was a medical Doctor with 25 years of active service under his belt. Both men had been looking for career changes, neither of them were married. They were flat sharing in Glasgow city centre, next door to Mel in Torchwood owned property. Within days Ianto had formed a cohesive team that got along and worked their arses off. Ianto was very proud of them, they had come to regard him as the boss though the atmosphere was relaxed. Work mostly consisted of cataloguing things brought over from Torchwood House in the Highlands and monitoring the local airspace and news reports. This morning Ianto surveyed his team with a smile and began the briefing.

"I spoke to Toshiko Sato this morning and she is going to go over our readings from last night. The other news I have is that Director Harkness has returned from where ever it was he went. I have no idea what that will entail as far as the running of this branch is concerned, but I will be insisting that none of you are to transferred to Cardiff or if I am that the three of you can continue to run things from here without interference Torchwood Three." He kept his voice level taking in the concerned looks from his team.

"Is he likely to make changes?"

Ianto had no idea and he shrugged. "I don't know, Captain Harkness can be a little unpredictable at times, but I suspect he will leave things as they are. I haven't spoken to him yet so I am expecting him to call at some point today. I know all the logs are in good order and the standard of your work for me has been exemplary."

Jordan was grinning, he knew Jack from an encounter a few years before. "He'll probably just ignore us if it's anything like the way he treats UNIT."

Ianto nodded. "Most likely, so where are we at?"

Ben decided that the whole Captain Harkness thing just didn't warrant his concerns.

"I've organised a boat for tomorrow so we can take some equipment out on to the Loch. I've hired a dive Master name Jenkins, he's a local man known to Archie so he knows the drill with keeping stum but he's got all the gear if one of us needs to take a dip. We'll be meeting him at Balloch Castle at 7am." He ran a hand through greying cropped hair. "There's been some stuff on the local news so I don't know if want to throw them a false lead?"

Ianto sipped on his mug of coffee. "Yep, we saw a news crew out there last night and couple of sight seers. Mel could you spin something for me?"

"No problem, don't worry I won't use the swamp gas excuse."

The three men grinned at her. "You've been watching the X-files again." Jordan teased.

"Caught me!"

"So, anything else?" Ianto asked after a few moments of giggling.

"Yeah, I've almost done going through the latest batch of gear from the mansion house. We've two requisitions from UNIT and one from Cardiff that you need to look over. I left the details on your desk."

"Ok, anything else?"

Ben slid a folder across the table. "That's a list of things I'll need for the new med bay. It's not much, but it means we'll be handle to emergencies if we need to and UNIT have agreed to take on anything bio hazardous or toxic because it would just be too difficult to build a sealed containment area here. Commander Lexburgh has been most co-operative, I guess he and Archie got on."

Ianto smiled, Archie had always maintained excellent relations with the other agencies. "That's brilliant, I'd like to make sure we continue to get on. Another couple of weeks and we can consider ourselves officially open for business."

"Unless Harkness shuts us down." Jordan put in.

Ianto shot him a frown. "He won't, because I will not allow it. He's already abandoned his responsibilities once, he has no right to dictate terms, so don't let it concern you."

Jordan nodded, wondering if there was something else going on. "Is there something we need to know boss?"

Ianto closed his eyes for a moment suddenly feeling like the youngest person in the room, which he was.

"Jack and I were involved when he left, obviously that's over now and it will not get in the way of things because.... well quite frankly he isn't worth it. I will endeavour to keep you all clear of any personal disagreements that Jack and I have." He felt extremely uncomfortable and Mel reached a hand to his and squeezed it, she had known all about Jack because Ianto had gotten badly drunk one night and poured his heart out to her. The subject hadn't been raised since. Ianto sucked in a breath and gathered himself.

"Right, ok. If that's all. Ben you and I are on Loch watch tonight, then you go home to be back here for 6am. Jordan, can you keep going through our sensor logs and liase with Tosh, maybe between the two of you......"

"Yeah, no problem boss."

"Mel if you could continue with the updating of the electronic archive."

"Of course."

Ianto got up. "Thank you everyone. Ben, we may as well go through this and have a look at starting work on the med bay space."

"Right then." He offered up a warm smile to the young Welshman, quietly confident that he was handling things just fine, amazing considering how young he was. He'd had Ianto's medical records sent up from Cardiff, they did not make for pleasant reading.

Ianto hesitated when he felt his mobile vibrate in his pocket. He took it out, a text from Tosh.

'Jack is on his way up to see you... should be there 6pm... be nice. T x'

Ianto swore in Welsh.


	3. Chapter 3

**PART THREE**

**OMG wow what wonderful reviews... thank you everyone. Solsburygirl how is it you know so much about the trains?....sorry got my 24 hour clock wrong in chapter one....I'm officially a muppet.**

Six pm came round far too quickly for Ianto's liking. He'd sent the rest of the team home, expecting Ben to be back at 9pm for the nightly observances at Loch Lomond. He didn't want the team to be witness to an argument though and whilst he felt slightly vulnerable without them here he knew full well that he had to deal with Jack alone. He watched from the downstairs window as a taxi drew up outside the front of the house in the private drive and out stepped Jack looking exactly as he had when he had disappeared seven months previously. Ianto's gut tightened and his heart thumped furiously against his rib cage. He turned away from the view and went to the front door and opened it. It was all so different to the theatrics of the Cardiff Hub. Jack was smiling that megawatt smile the moment the door was opened and Ianto couldn't help but offer up a very faint smile in return.

"Come on in Jack." He gestured and Jack stepped in, dumped his bag on the floor and before Ianto knew what was happening he was being hugged very tightly. He tolerated it for a moment.

"Need to breathe Jack."

Jack released him and stepped back a half pace to get a good look and Ianto instantly felt uncomfortable under his gaze so he turned away. "This way. Have you organised somewhere to stay?"

Jack trailed behind as Ianto led him onto the ground level operations area. It was open plan with Ianto's office area in the bay window the other desks spaced a comfortable distance apart and a door that lead to the new extension out back. Jack was obviously taking it all in.

"Wow, this has been transformed since I was last here."

Ianto made straight for the kitchenette.

"Coffee?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Jack followed him, hands shoved into his pockets. "Looks like you've done great things with the place, Tosh was full of praise."

Ianto set about making the coffee. "I had plenty of help. Mel, Ben and Jordan have been fantastic."

"Tosh said you had a team up here. Was that entirely nessescary?"

Ianto rolled his eyes but kept his back to Jack. "I think it was and as you weren't here to take charge of the situation I dealt with it in the best way that I could." He responded icily.

Jack winced. "Ok, I deserved that. So, how about we discuss how things are going here and take it from there."

"The logs are on my desk. I guess you're planning on being here for a couple of days?"

He passed Jack a mug of steaming black coffee and Jack took a moment to inhale the aroma.

"Yes."

"I'll get you the keys to the Larkhill safe house, you can stay here."

Jack frowned. "Why can't I stay here in Archie's flat?"

"Because it's my flat and I'd rather you didn't, if you don't mind."

"I do mind."

"Tough."

Jack sighed. "Look Ianto we need to talk. I'm tired and cranky and you are......"

"I'm not anything Jack. Can I be frank with you?" Ianto stood back leaning against the work top, hands in the pockets of his jeans. It was only then that Jack noticed the absence of a suit. He nodded slowly.

"Yes, you can."

"You left us Jack, and I get that you were mad with us, I understand what we did hurt you a great deal, but I thought we'd fixed that. You ran away, you were happy to be gone, I saw that much on the CCTV. It was hard for us. You have such a big personality and suddenly you were gone. I had to sort out Flat Holm, which incedently only Owen actually knows about. You abandoned your responsibilities Jack. In some ways I am glad you went, because it empowered us and made us think for ourselves and move on. We all realised we could do just fine without you, but it hurt. It hurt so much. I'm rebuilding this....."He gestured around him. "This mess that Archie left behind. This is mine Jack. Did you know that in your absence I am the senior ranking member of the entire institute? Did you know that?"

Jack opened his mouth to speak and then shook his head.

Ianto sucked in a steadying breath. "No, somehow I am not surprised. You were always waiting for the Doctor. I just hoped that you had more faith in us, but in truth we didn't help ourselves much really did we? Suzie betrayed you, then I did and then all of us. You saved me Jack and I learnt from you, not to give up, but when you left I fell apart inside and nearly killed myself with over work. Gwen took over when I came up here; she's outranked by all of us and she took over." His eyes strayed to the tiled floor. "I've worked hard to set this up. I don't want you taking it away from me."

"Ianto you say all this like you expect me to just......"

"I do expect it Jack, it's what you do. You strip things down, destroy them or leave them to rot, just like the archive in Cardiff before I joined. You gave me the job because you wanted to fuck me, not because of the mess that needed dealing with there." Ianto ran his hand through unruly hair and sighed again. "I'm sorry I just....."

"It's fine. Not exactly the reunion I was hoping for." He responded sadly. It was not lost on Ianto.

"What did you hope for Jack?"

Jack hitched a smile. "Me, you, dinner a movie maybe......"

Ianto gaped at him. "I beg your pardon?"

Jack met his look. "I came back for you Ianto."

"Why ever would you do that?"

Jack's gaze wandered around the room for a moment before settling back to Ianto's eyes.

"Because I missed you so much, it was all I could think about. I needed to see the Doc to fix my problem."

"And did he fix you?"

"Mess with this level of perfection?"

Exasperated Ianto rolled his eyes. "Jack?"

"I still can't stay dead, if that what's you mean."

"I'm sorry." He meant it too.

An uncomfortable silence enveloped them for what felt like hours and finally Ianto moved himself. "I need to order in some dinner, do you have a preference?"

Jack shrugged. "Don't mind."

"Chinese?"

"Yep, that sounds good, look are you really going to make me go out to Larkhill?"

Ianto shook his head. "There's a spare room upstairs, you can stay there. I won't be in tonight anyway."

Jack arched his eyebrows. "I see."

Ianto, phone in hand offered up a long suffering smirk. "I'm working Jack. We've had UFO sightings over the last few nights."

"Oh, yes.... the lights. I reviewed the data on the way up. Mind if I tag along?"

Ianto did. "Actually, yes. Ben and I are going out there and then..... oh hi can I order a take out to be delivered please......."

Jack turned away and wondered back into the operations area. It didn't take him long to find out which one was Ianto's desk and he sat in the chair and started reading through the handwritten journals, marvelling that Ianto still insisted on writing things down the old fashioned way. His stomach churned with uncharacteristic nerves as he read.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Log entries in italics......... can't remember who suggested the logs, but I thought it was a good idea.... so thank you and here it is....**

**PART FOUR**

_Archie's funeral was a dismal affair. It sums up a Torchwood life really, no friends or family outside of the institute, no one to care, but I did as he asked and drank the 40 year old malt he left in his desk draw and now I am massively hungover. It was good scotch though and I for one will miss the old coot, he always had time for me and I am sorry he is gone. I guess the only consolation is that Torchwood didn't kill him, must be the first to go naturally._

_There is a lot of work to be done here. Mel has tried her level best and under the circumstances I would call her legendary, it must be the Canary Wharf Survivors Syndrome, I can't believe we're the only two still alive. Any way we are both working through sorting out the back log of filing and cataloguing and the builders are out back modernising the facilities so that Mel doesn't have wheel herself down the street to Mc Donald's every time she needs to pee._

_I've sent a truck load of stuff back down to Cardiff with Tosh..... I am missing her so much....She was a bit disturbed by my decision to remain here though. I know I can handle it. It's not like we have a Rift or weevils here........._

"Jack, food has arrived. I'm setting up in the kitchen." Ianto's voice filtered through and Jack looked up to see his departing back. He closed the book and got to his feet, removing his great coat and draping it over the chair he had just vacated. A moment later and he found Ianto organising plates and a fresh brew of coffee.

"Need any help?"

"No, I got it. Tuck in while it's hot. I ordered what you used to have I hope that's ok."

Jack hitched a grin and sat at the table savouring all the aroma of sweet and sour and wie ching ho.

"Just so long as there is no swede." He commented absently.

Ianto faced him, proffering a mug of coffee. "Swede? What's wrong with Swede?"

Jack took the mug, a grimace on his face. "You don't want to know."

Ianto shook his head as he sat down. "That's you're trouble, you always assume I don't want or need to know." He started piling food onto his plate. "Can I ask you something?"

Jack nodded, knowing he may not give a straight answer.

"You've lost weight Jack, you look tired. What happened? Where did you go?"

Jack assessed his concerned look and suddenly huffed out the breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.

"It's complicated."

"Fine, don't bother." Ianto started to eat and Jack sighed his appetite vanishing.

"I said it's complicated, not that I wouldn't tell you." He admonished.

"So tell me." Ianto softened his tone somewhat and offered up a faint smile in encouragement.

Jack shovelled a lot of food into his mouth and closed his eyes relishing the flavours.

"S.. good."

Ianto watched the display for a moment, Jack's table manners clearly hadn't improved.

"I don't wanna go into the details Ianto, because I'm not ready to talk about everything that happened. It was a bad time. I was away for almost 14 months in my time line and during that time was I held prisoner and tortured. I lived through a year, here on Earth, created as a result of a paradox.... like I said complicated. It was horrible and I really thought the world would end and thanks to the Doctor and Martha Jones it didn't."

Ianto paused a forkful of food half way to his mouth.

"You came back. Did the Doctor abandon you like last time?"

Jack shook his head and swallowed down another mouthful. "No, I chose to come back. He actually asked me to go with him, but like said earlier I had responsibilities and people that I loved to come back to. Of course I get home and you're not there."

Ianto chewed but said nothing as he picked up his mug of coffee. They continued to eat the rest of the meal in silence and once done Ianto got up and cleared away the plates and rubbish.

"I'm going to walk Boris, can I trust you if I leave you here alone?"

Jack's eyebrows climbed into his hairline. "You inherited Archie's dog?"

"Well what was I supposed to do with him? He's a nice dog actually and quite handy to have around the place. I'll go get him, excuse me."

It took every ounce of will not to follow Ianto out of the door with the old dog on a lead some ten minutes later.

_I have employed Dr Ben Clarke I don't like to think of this place not having a medic of some kind. Ben is former Navy with an excellent service record. I liked him when we met, I guess that is why I took him on and already he is getting on well with Mel and she is a hard person to please. I'm still trawling through the UNIT personnel files to see if there is someone I can poach. TW2 house is at least habitable now and wheel chair friendly now that the lift is in place. Mel was delighted when she tried it out, she's never been above the ground floor since coming here after CW. I'm going out to Torchwood House tomorrow to overview what we have there. There are thousands of artefacts that need to be catalogued and studied and I am sure Tosh could use some of things there. One of the things I sent to Cardiff turns out to be some kind of surgical tool and Owen has been experimenting apparently. Gwen advised me that they had recruited a research graduate to act as 'me' until such time as I come back so I informed her that I would be remaining in Scotland and running TW2 just as soon as everything is set up. I now have links set up with CETI, Jodrel Bank, Coobe Valley and NZsec so at least some of the surveillance handled by TW3 can now be handed over to us to take the pressure off Tosh. It's working quite well and I find that I am enjoying myself doing all this and realising that I am capable of so much more than I thought._

_There's been no word from Jack and the PM has ordered the TW3 gang out to something near Nepal. They weren't too happy. I have to say I am not really missing Jack as much as I thought I would. I suppose it's the quiet times that we shared that I miss the most, we spent so many nights just sitting up and talking, usually on the damned roof, but it was nice, almost romantic. I hope he's ok, where ever it is he has gone......._

The dog, a big black slobbery thing dropped his head on to Jack's lap and wagged his tail. Jack rubbed his ears affectionately.

"Hey Boris, you have a nice walk?"

Ianto hung up his coat and began preparing the equipment he and Ben would need for their nocturnal expedition. Jack remained at Ianto's desk, the open log book in front of him.

"You sure you don't want me out there tonight?"

Ianto froze and looked him in the eye. "Quite sure, we can manage Jack."

Jack shrugged. "Just lights in the sky huh?"

Ianto turned and shrugged. "You know something I don't?"

"No, I looked at the sensor logs on the way up here, to be honest I'm curious to see them. I don't want to step on your toes, it's your show."

Finally after appearing to weigh that up Ianto nodded in agreement. "Ok, but you do as I ask, please."

Jack saluted. "Yes, sir."

Ianto smiled hesitantly and then carried on with his work. Jack went back to rubbing Boris' head.

Dr Ben Clark was not anything like what Jack was expecting. The medic was easily his own height and build with closely cropped greying dark brown hair. He was dressed in what look like arctic weather gear when he arrived and Jack noticed with a perverse sense of jealousy how handsome the 43 year old was and how well he interacted with Ianto. The two of them greeted one another with fond barbs and huge smiles and Jack wondered straight away if this was the reason that Ianto was staying in Glasgow. Ben Clark almost crushed his hand when he shook it.

"Captain Harkness, I've heard a lot about you."

Jack took the dig for what it was, his name was obviously mud at TW2. "Nothing too damning I trust."

Ben just smiled a somewhat evil grin and turned to Ianto. "Right boss how do you want to do this?"

Ianto handed him a back pack. "I've re modulated the scanner according to Tosh's recommendation. We'll just observe and track tonight, then go out onto the loch in daylight. There's a flask of tea in there for you and Mel is coming in at 2am to have hot soup ready for when we get back."

Ben took the pack and clapped Ianto on the shoulder. "Is the Captain coming with us?"

Ianto nodded. "On the strict promise that he does as he is told." He looked pointedly at Jack who raised his hands in defence.

"I will, like I said, curious."

"Well the weather forecast is almost freezing later on, so wrap up."

"Yeah I did wonder why you'd gone for the Edmund Hilary look." Ianto donned a beany, gloves, scarf and his gortex thermal coat. Jack slipped into his great coat and Ben just gaped at him.

"You seriously wearing that, out there?"

Jack baulked. "What's wrong with it?"

Ben rolled his and shook his head and Jack was sure he heard the word tosser uttered but decided to ignore it. Ianto chuckled.


	5. Chapter 5

**PART FIVE**

The Torchwood Two SUV was in fact a battered old land rover acquired from an army surplus sell off some years ago and though it sounded like a tank it ran well and coped spectacularly with the rough and ready roads of the Scottish countryside. Ben drove and whistled happily to himself as he did so, his boss at his side double checking the camera he brought for the trip. Jack was jammed into the cramped back seat with the equipment and almost no leg room. He knew better than to complain and contented himself with listening to Ianto and Ben talk.

"......there was thing in the Glasgow Herald this evening on page three about the lights so it's possible we'll have sight seers out here tonight."

"I hope not, that could cause problems."

"Maybe we should wave some TW ID about and scare them off." Ben was smiling.

Ianto chuckled. "It's tempting but I don't want to draw attention to ourselves. The lights appear to be harmless, if people want to look... well who are to stop them?"

"True enough, it beats having them brawling outside the pubs at closing time."

Ianto obviously couldn't disagree the point. "So how is your mam settling in at the retirement home?"

"She's ok, I think it was all a bit over whelming to start with but she seems fine now, getting into the spirit of it. I'm just relieved she's safe."

"It must be a worry, my Mam's not that old yet, I guess I'll have all that to come."

"You sure will."

The vehicle was turned off the road onto an unlit dirt track, the suspension wasn't especially hot and Jack found himself gripping the back of the driver's seat as he peered out into the darkness. He noticed Ianto glancing at his watch.

"Ten minutes."

"They come at the same time each night?"

Ianto craned his neck to look at Jack. "So far, the last four nights, the first two we only saw two lights, yesterday there were three."

The car came to a squeaky stop. "I really must clean the brakes out." Ben muttered. Ianto turned and grinned at him and Jack realised he had never seen Ianto looking so relaxed.

"Perhaps I should get a new jeep."

Ben shook his head. "Don't even think about it, there's life in the old girl yet."

They gathered their gear and stepped out into the night, their breath turning white in front of their faces. Jack felt like a spare part with nothing to do but follow. With only starlight and the one maglite between them it was tricky going tramping through ferns and over rocks but finally they emerged at the edge of the loch. A blanket of mist hovered over the water. Across the stillness in the distance Ianto spotted the erratic movements of a torchlight and faint sounds of laughter could be heard, shattering the stillness. Ben already had his PDA out as suddenly brilliant light just appeared over the black lake. Four bright globes of bluish light. Instantly they felt the static crawling over them making their exposed skin itch. Jack instinctively ducked down reminded too closely of the Toclofane and he felt somewhat foolish a moment later when Ben and Ianto hadn't even noticed his reaction so intent on watching the lights as they were. The globes fizzed and bobbed and the Torchwood colleagues watched in awe. Jack finally rose to his feet and brushed himself down aware of how quiet everything was as the lights flitted about, sometimes high, sometimes almost skimming the surface of the water. It went on for a long time and after a short while Ianto and Ben began to pick their way alongside the edge of the still water, Jack in their wake. The two men exchanged hushed words and once again Jack was left feeling somewhat redundant and half wondered what he had hoped to achieve out here. He was wrenched from his musing by a scream that rent the air in two. They froze and Ianto pointed. The lights had suddenly gone plunging them into blackness.

"Shit where did that come from?" Ben was waving his maglite in the direction that Ianto pointed.

"This way, come on." And the younger man took off at a run with Ben and Jack behind him. How Ianto managed in almost pitch black Jack had no idea, but the younger man was gaining a little distance heedless of the bracken and branches that got in his way. Ben was close behind, cursing and swearing as he went and Jack followed and before he realised it he had run straight into the back of Ben who was no longer moving, just heaving rapid breaths and staring into the undergrowth with his torch. Ianto was only a metre away looking at the same thing. Then the smell hit him, charred flesh and bone.

"Shit." Ben exclaimed.

Ianto knelt down beside a heap of smouldering flesh as Ben aimed his torch and studied his PDA. Jack stepped round to get a better look.

"There's no radiation, what the hell did this?"

Ianto looked up at Ben. "There's six bodies here I can feel the heat coming off them, but the undergrowth is undamaged." He pulled out his mobile phone. "I'm going to call Commander Lexburgh."

Jack knelt down beside him having spotted something red in the tufty grass. He picked it up and raised it so the other two could see.

"Looks like UNIT had a team here."

Ianto stood up and dialled.

"Yes Commander, its Ianto Jones, Torchwood Two.................. Yes sir, fine thank you............. That's correct sir, we've been watching the lights and we think we have found your team.................. well to be honest I can't be sure of that, they are dead and there isn't much left.............We need to get the area contained and clear the Loch. Yes sir...... no evidence of it our scanners are giving us a negative for radiation, but we'll maintain quarantine protocols..... You have my GPS?....... Yes Sir." Ianto hung up and glanced at Ben and Jack.

"UNIT are on their way, seems they were watching the lights as well. They're going to cordon off the whole area, so we're to wait here until they arrive."

"What about the civilian sight seers?" Ben brushed dirt off his knees.

"I'm not sure. I'm just hoping that there aren't any more bodies." Ianto looked up to the skies. "And where are the lights?"

"You think they did this?"

Both Ianto and Jack were nodding. "Experience tells me that no Earth weapon could have done this and without any damage to the surrounding bushes it's not any kind of normal fire." Ianto replied. Jack was still looking at the smouldering corpses.

"Maybe a high intensity microwave burst."

"But from where?"

Jack looked up and Ben was following his gaze. Ianto sighed and glanced around him uneasily, the area was eerily quiet, not even the sounds of night time owls and foxes. He caught site of Jack fiddling with his faithful wrist strap.

"Anything on that?"

Jack looked straight him and shook his head.

Twenty minutes later and UNIT made their presence felt as a helicopter flew low over their heads and sounds of voices and rumbling vehicles shattered the peaceful silence. The soldiers crashed through the undergrowth and suddenly the Torchwood team were surrounded by red berets and torchlight. Lexburgh stepped forwards and extended his hand to Ianto.

"Jones."

"Commander." He gestured. "We think this could be your team. I'm not entirely certain that there are not more bodies..... I'm sorry."

Lexburgh nodded accepting the condolence. "Did you see how it happened?"

Ianto shook his head. "We were watching the lights, four of them this time and then there was a scream, sounded female. The sound led us here, but as soon as the scream occur the lights disappeared."

"Ok, well we'll take over the area. I'd be grateful if you could send us all of your data recorded so........"

"Wait a minute." Jack stepped forwards. "What do you mean you're taking over?"

Ianto sighed and Lexburgh squared his shoulders. "Who the hell are you?"

"Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood Three."

Ianto rested his hand on Jack's as he stepped forwards to meet Lexburgh's challenging look.

"It's alright Jack. I can handle this." Ianto turned to the commander. "Commander you're welcome to take over but my team will be out on the loch in the daylight and we will continue with our studies, however I am more than happy to exchange information and we will offer up full co-operation." Ianto's grip tightened on Jack effectively shutting him up.

Lexburgh smiled at Ianto. "That would be ideal, if one of my lads could join you on the boat?"

"No problem, we'd grateful for the assistance."

"Excellent, thank you Jones. I'll make sure you receive all the details of the autopsy reports, maybe we can sort this out as soon as possible. In the meantime can I leave it with Torchwood to deal with the spin?"

Ianto grinned. "Mel would be delighted Commander."

Jack could barely believe his ears as he fumed silently at Ianto's side. Ianto turned briefly to take a final look at the singed bodies.

"I am really sorry about your team; please pass on our sympathies to the families."

The Commander nodded. "Will do."

A short while later they were heading back to the SUV Ben two paces ahead of his boss and the Captain. He listened to them argue as he walked with his head down against the cold of the night.

"How can you just let UNIT walk all over you like that?"

Ianto scowled. "I didn't Jack. It's called inter agency co-operation. They were UNIT soldiers that died. Not only that we don't have the resources that you lot have in Cardiff. I have a good working relationship with the UNIT division based up here and I do not want you jeopardising that for the sake of a pissing contest with the people you seem to think are the opposition. We're on the same side Jack and maybe if we co-operated with them more often the two organisations might actually do some good."


	6. Chapter 6

**PART SIX**

Ben drove them back to Scot Hub and kept sneaking sympathetic glances in Ianto's direction. Ianto was leaning against the glass his eyes closed and looking weary. He couldn't see Harkness in the back from his position and didn't want to anyway, he'd taken an instant disliking to the man. When they got back Ianto was greeted at the door by Boris, wagging his tail enthusiastically and Mel who was making soup in the kitchen for them. Ianto slumped in the chair behind his desk and Jack took one nearby, they were still clearly annoyed with one another so Ben and Mel made themselves scarce, for which Ianto was very grateful.

"Did you have to embarrass me like that?" He finally asked.

Jack looked up with narrowed eyes. "Embarrass you?"

Ianto scrubbed his hands down his face. He was too tired for this. "In front of UNIT and Ben, undermining my authority like that."

"It wasn't my intention."

Ianto realised it was too much to expect an apology. "So Jack, the real reason you are here is?" He just wanted to get the conversation over with so he could get on..... with his life.

"Come home. We need you in Cardiff. I need you."

"And what happens to this place?"

"I was planning on winding it down once Archie died, didn't want to turf him out before hand, he'd been here for years."

"I know that Jack, but we have an effective operation going here, we've already reduced Tosh's workload back at the Hub and it's given us the ideal opportunity to make use of what's in Torchwood House."

"So let these guys deal with that."

Ianto sagged further into his chair, if that were at all possible by now.

"I worked hard to put this together Jack, and I do not want to come home, as you put it, to be relegated back to making your coffee and warming your bed. I am proud of what I have done here and for the first time since joining Torchwood in 2001 I feel as though I have achieved something. I finally have some self esteem and some confidence and you just waltz back into our lives all ready to strip it away like so much rubbish. This is important to me Jack."

"I'm sorry you think so badly of me." Jack stood up pulling his coat about him like a shield and Ianto caught a glimpse of vulnerability which was quickly masked.

"I guess I should leave you to it then."

Ianto frowned. "That's it?"

"What more do you want? You expect me to fight for you?"

"I don't expect anything Jack not any more. The others may well have welcomed you back with open arms, but there's too much between us. I think we've hurt each enough, don't you?" Ianto stood up as well a hand reaching out in comfort. Jack backed off a pace to avoid contact.

"You're probably right. I guess I'll be seeing you around. You've done a good job here, even I can see that. Just don't let 'us' get in the way of that if we have to work together, ok?"

Ianto dropped his hand and sighed at the business like tone. "Of course. You're still the boss."

Jack shook his head, his eyes cold. "Not here I'm not. You obviously don't need me."

"Jack, don't say that. I missed you so much, but I can't go through that again and I think you have enough of your own issues to resolve."

He looked distant for a moment, avoiding Ianto's gaze. "Yeah. Right then I'll get back to Cardiff." He turned to leave.

"Jack! It's two in the morning!"

Jack shrugged. "I'll call you in a couple of days, keep me posted on the lights thing."

Ianto gaped as his boss, former lover and friend strode out of the room. The front door was heard to slam a moment later. Ianto sank into his chair and buried his face into his hands.

"Shit."

Ben and Mel ventured out from the kitchen a moment later to find their boss sitting at his desk, tears streaking down his pale face. Ben rested a comforting hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed.

"Ok, there?"

Ianto sniffled and nodded. "Yep, fine thanks."

"Where's Harkness gone?"

"Back to Cardiff, don't ask."

Mel who had balanced a tray on her lap with soup and biscuits finally joined them. "Here, this should make you feel a bit better."

Ianto took the tray and placed it on top of his paperwork and the three of them gathered around the desk to eat and drink.

"So, is he shutting us down?" It was an obvious question.

"No. He's leaving me to run things. But he's not happy, wants me back in Cardiff."

Mel grasped his hand. "And what do you want?"

Ianto finally offered up a faint smile. "To stay here, I'd miss you guys way too much if I had to leave."

"Good then that's settled then. Now you boys should really get some rest before the boat trip."

Ianto rose to his feet. "Mel can you upload all of tonight's sensor logs to Tosh's station and come up with some more spin about the Loch, I take it Ben filled you in?"

Mel nodded.

"You'll need to talk to Lexburgh. Ben, go home and grab some rest. I'll pick you up in the morning....well." He glanced at his watch. "In a few hours anyway."

Ben smiled. "We're business as usual?"

Ianto nodded. "Yep. I'll handle the communications with Cardiff until Jack settles down a bit, but I think he's going to leave us to it."

Ben and Mel were both relieved.

"Right I'm going to bed. I'll see you in a few hours. Jordan's due in at nine so when he gets here, you go home Mel and get some shut eye."

"Will do."

Ianto exhaled a deep sigh of relief when he was finally alone in the flat. Boris wandered into the kitchen and lapped water from his bowl and then he ambled off to settle on his favourite spot on the couch. Unable to relax Ianto pulled out his mobile phone and dialled Tosh's number, he wanted to warn her about Jack's sudden departure, he was sure to be cranky on returning to Wales. Tosh answered straight away, obviously at work then.

"Ianto? Is everything alright? We've had reports from UNIT about some deaths up there." Her concerned tones were heart warming.

"We're fine Tosh, UNIT are handling the thing with the lights, we've kinda taken a back seat but we'll be helping them tomorrow. But we're all ok.... well most of us. Look Jack left here a short while ago. I suspect he's pretty pissed at me, but he just left and I'm a little concerned, can you keep a track on his mobile and let me know when he gets back there?"

He heard Tosh sigh. "What happened Ianto, what did you say to him?"

Ianto felt suddenly very uncomfortable, he wasn't sure he was ready to talk about it. "Just that I wanted to stay here and that he and I.... well that we're not going to pick up where he left off. We're better off apart Tosh, we'd only end up..... well I'd only getting hurt by him or Jack would be hurt when I die. It's just too difficult and I don't want to have to go back to the way I was before he left us."

"I can understand that Ianto, but you should have seen his face when he discovered that you weren't here. He came back to be with you, he loves you."

Ianto sagged against the wall and closed his eyes, chewing at his bottom lip. Willing himself not to shed more tears, he failed.

"Ianto?"

"Still here, sorry Tosh. I just want to be my own self, not his Tea Boy, work time shag. I've become something here Tosh."

"I know that Ianto. But you were never his shag, he told me months ago, before Lisa that he'd fallen for you and he was so heart broken when you broke down after her death. He hated himself for putting you through that."

"Then why didn't he tell me Tosh? It's no good.... look anyway I just wanted to let you know. Please just keep an eye on him."

"You know I will....... Do you still love him Ianto?"

The tears just kept coming. "Course I bloody do, how could I not? It's just too much Tosh. Look I have to go, I've an early start. Mel's going to send you latest set of data. Can I call you tomorrow?"

He could feel her smile down the phone line. "Ianto you can call me anytime, you know that. Just stay safe and if nothing else please come and visit us soon, it would be lovely to see you."

"I will, I promise and thanks Tosh."

"You're welcome, good night."

"Take care. Good night."


	7. Chapter 7

**PART SEVEN**

Ben was standing on the path outside his house when Ianto arrived to collect him. It was a grey cold morning with wet mist clogging the air and chilling their bones. It would not make for a nice day. Ianto yawned as he drove them through Glasgow and Ben watched his young boss with some concern.

"I know it's none of my business Ianto, but you and Captain Harkness.... well, I gather you didn't get much sleep last night from the look of you."

Ianto sighed, he really didn't want to talk about Jack. "We have history, as you know. He wants me to return to Cardiff, I don't think he much cares about what happens to Torchwood Two. Trouble is my heart says go running back and my head says don't. It's complicated Ben and I am best off out of it and if truth be known, so is he." Ianto replied keeping his gaze firmly on the road. "And you're quite right, I didn't sleep a wink."

"Sorry."

"It's not something you have to apologise for. Jack and I are just bad for each other, anyway if you don't mind I'd rather not discuss it further."

Ben nodded. "Of course. Do we know who the UNIT chap is that's joining us?"

"Dr Alice Bennett, she's a professor of something, not sure what but Lexburgh says she's an experienced boatie and diver, so that's good enough for me."

Three quarters of an hour later and the two men were introducing themselves to the UNIT officer and Jenkin the boat pilot. Ianto took a moment to survey the loch. It looked gloomier than ever under the mist and drizzle, the water almost black. On the shore he could see teams of red beretted soldiers roaming around, no doubt using the daylight to examine every inch of the terrain. Lexburgh had informed him that morning of two more bodies being found. Like the UNIT team they too had been burnt into crispy husks. Ianto rubbed his hands together grateful for his wet weather gear even though one really couldn't consider it to be raining, the dampness pervaded everything. They boarded the boat and were donning their life jackets whilst the skipper untied the ropes on the wooden dock. Shortly after they were on their way, Ben discussing with the pilot exactly what he wanted him to do. Ianto was content to let Ben get on with on it, the man knew precisely what he was doing and how to handle all the state of the art surveillance equipment the boat had on board. It was for tracking fish apparently. Ianto trusted Ben to do his job so he settled himself by the bow of the boat and looked the old fashioned way, peering into the murky water and every so often consulting the readings on his PDA. Dr Bennett followed his lead and stood beside him with a UNIT issue device similar to his own.

"It's such a beautiful day don't you think?" Her Irish accent was pleasing to listen to.

Ianto just offered up a smile from under his beanie and scarf, he was rewarded with a returning grin.

"So Mr Jones what do you think we will find out here?" Her voice was eerily too loud on the still lake. Ianto took a moment to look across the water, it was glass like perfectly reflecting the dank sky until one looked into its black depths. Ianto shuddered uneasily, he wasn't overly fond of the water.

"I've no idea Dr Bennett, but the lights that have been appearing have hovered over the loch each time and seemed to disappear into the water.

"It's Alice, really call me Al everyone else does."

Ianto nodded, she was gorgeous and in any other life he probably would have hit on her.

"Ianto." He replied.

The boat moved on the engines churning the water as the boat slid effortlessly towards the middle of the lake. Ianto looked over his shoulder towards the pilot's cabin and Ben nodded back to him through the glass, he was distracted by the sound of a phone ringing and Alice reached into her coat pocket and found her phone, she stepped away to take the call. Ianto went back to peering into the water.

Ben settled himself at the sonar console and began re-adjusting the equipment so he could start his readings. As soon as they reached the centre of the Loch Ianto be dropping some of the specialised Torchwood Tech down into the water as well, he hoped it would be enough to discover what was going on, if anything at all. It was entirely possible that this little expedition could be a waste of time and money. Ben tried not to think about the dent in the budget and set to work. Jenkins was whistling from the wheel quite happily, content not to ask questions and go where he was told. He knew the loch like the back of his hand and these tourists wanted to waste their copious amounts of money he was not about to complain. He knew that Ben was no tourist of course. He watched the other two passengers who remained outside on the small deck at the bow rail, the man leaning over the side and appearing to drop something into water.

Alice hung up from her call and watched for a moment as Ianto dropped another sensor into the water, they were smaller devices than the ones UNIT had provided her with so she opted to rely on their readings rather than dropping more crap into the water.

"That was Commander Lexburgh. They've found another body, and he wanted to know how we were getting on."

Ianto straightened up, adjusting his coat and wincing as he felt a trickle of cold run down the back of his neck.

"If you go into the cabin with Ben, you'll be able to see, the readings will be coming in any minute now and he's going to start sonar shortly" They were close to the middle of the loch.

Alice smiled at him, "You coming in?"

Ianto grinned back. "I wish, I just want to be a pair of eyes out here in case there is anything to see."

Alice then made her way back to the cabin and warmth and dry. Ianto returned to his task, enjoying the stillness and quiet. The mist had become much less dense and faint sunlight was beginning to bleed through the grey, giving the clouds a luminesant quality. Ianto paused for a moment to look at it as faint rays began to pierce holes into the miserable weather. He grinned, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad day after all. The drizzle had finally eased off enough for him to be tempted into removing his beanie. He jammed it into his pocket and ruffled his hair to unflatten it and then another sensor was dropped over the side.

Ben watched his three screens closely a deep frown settling across his brow. He could only describe the readings as achingly normal, right down to currents and water temperature at differing depths and the lay of the land underneath the swirling waters. There were a few trout and he regretted not bring his fishing line, but that was it. Still, it was a large loch and there was a lot of mileage to cover. Alice Bennett sat at his side watching the monitors with interest, but like Ben she could see that there was clearly nothing odd beneath the surface.

9am, 10am, mid day and mid afternoon came and went. The boat peacefully glided over the water. They ate lunch with the skipper, Ianto having brought copious amounts of food and four flasks of coffee from the Scot Hub. Ianto sat outside enjoying the filtered sunlight that didn't quite manage to break the stubborn mist, though at least now he could see the shore from both sides of the boat. He watched birds and a couple of what looked like otters or beavers, he wasn't sure which, and he sat watching the water. It was a beautiful day and Ianto found himself thinking that he could easily retire to this in later life, assuming he got that far.

At first he didn't notice the boat rock slightly, but Ben came hurrying out of the cabin yelling his name.

"Something's happening Ianto!....."

The boat pitched and both of them were thrown to the deck, Ianto hitting his head against a rope cleat as he went down. He staggered to his feet, vision blurred with blood and no sooner was he upright than the boat pitched again with a sickening creaking. The next thing Ianto knew he was in the water and the last thing he saw was the boat splintering into pieces as it was torn apart by watery hands. His head went under, arms flailing as he saw dappled sunshine though the surface, he sank into black depths hands reaching toward the light.


	8. Chapter 8

**PART EIGHT**

Slamming the door behind him Jack strode off into the night, fuming and muttering under his breath, wondering why in hell he had bothered to come back to this miserable planet. Jack had to be honest with himself, he was not accustomed to being rejected, and it hurt. There was a good 3 hours to kill before the next train south so Jack went and did what he always did when he was feeling sorry for sorry himself. He found someone to have sex with. The trouble was on the train back to Crewe he was just left feeling slightly dirty and more than a little guilty. Ianto had been right and wrong on so many levels. Jack was a changed man, he had come back to Cardiff with purpose and with a sense of worth he hadn't felt for a very long time. Maybe the Doctor HAD fixed him in some strange almost metaphorical way that Jack didn't care to understand. Earth had become home, too much of him was here now, Alice, Stephen and now Ianto. He loved them and didn't want to leave them again, didn't want them to leave him before their time and whilst Alice kept him firmly at a distance, he hoped that Ianto would welcome him back with those sensual Welsh vowels and soft kisses, with his loyalty and his solid presence in Jack's life. Sometimes he forgot just how much Ianto had already lost and perhaps Jack's leaving had been the final blow for the younger man.

Jack slumped back in his seat, putting his feet up on the empty seat opposite him as he watched the Cumbrian Countryside slide by in a haze of low cloud and rain. He hadn't felt this disappointed in a very long time. He knew that when he returned to Cardiff without the Welshman at his side, Tosh would be full of sympathy, Owen would be scathing and critical and Gwen would no doubt would turn up the flirting a notch. He didn't mind Gwen's flirting, he loved her almost as much as he loved Ianto, but she was not his and never would be. Gwen was not built to withstand any kind of relationship with him, he'd break her in much same way he had probably broken Ianto. Best left well alone. Though in retrospect Ianto didn't seem so fragile any more. The simple fact of the matter was that he'd moved on because Jack had forced him to by his prolonged absence. He wondered where Ben fit into the picture and the thought of him brought a sneer to Jack's lips, pouting he gazed stubbornly outwards trying his best to suppress his jealousy. This was ridiculous, Ianto wasn't even all that special, but Jack knew full he was kidding himself on that front.

Seven hours later saw him arrive at the Hub. Simone was just closing up the tourist office and getting ready to go home, she wasn't really involved with the 'Torchwood' side of Torchwood, Gwen had been careful to make sure that the young woman never got exposed to any dangerous. Jack was glad of it, she was a refreshing breeze to have around the place, but she wasn't Ianto, beyond a few pleasantries Jack knew he would never attempt to get to know her unless she fancied a shag at some point. The ring on her finger told him not, though Gwen's sparkler didn't seem to be much of a deterrent for her.

Simone gathered up her bag and smiled at Jack, the mysterious boss, back from his travels.

"There's a fresh pot of coffee on the go, the other's are out and there is a message for you call Commander Lexburgh of UNIT as soon as possible, it's urgent apparently." She bustled out of the door, locking it behind her as Jack stood there like a deer in the head lights his guts frozen.

He found the post it note on his desk and grabbed the phone from its cradle and rang Lexburgh. He quickly glanced at his watch, it was almost 6pm.

"Commander Lexburgh..."

"Yes, Captain Harkness?"

"Yes, you called."

"We've had an incident up here. A survey team went out onto the Loch this morning, two of your personnel were on the boat along with one of ours and the skipper. The boat sank roughly two hours ago. We've recued Jenkin, Dr Bennett and Dr Sharpe, but Jones is missing. I'm sorry but I suspect he may have drowned. We're going to lose daylight soon but I've got a dive team searching the water near where the boat went down. I'm sorry Captain. I thought you should know."

"Jesus, what the hell is going on up there, I thought you guys had control of the situation!" Jack yelled.

"We do, this was entirely well.... unexpected. I've emailed footage of the sinking to your office in Cardiff, you need to take a look for yourselves."

"Fine. Get me a helicopter my team will be coming up there with in the hour." Jack slammed the phone down and stood there shaking for some moments. Finally he dragged his hand over his face and it came away wet with tears.

"Shit, shit, shit!"

He grabbed the phone and dialled Tosh's mobile number from memory. To his relief she picked up straight away.

"Tosh its Jack, where are you?"

"We're on our way back to the Hub, where are you?"

"In my office, soon as you get back, get some gear prepped for a trip to Scotland. UNIT will be sending a chopper I'm just about to organise our pick up, tell Owen and Gwen they're coming too."

Tosh knew better than to protest. "Ok Jack, we'll there shortly."

xxxx

Ben Sharpe rolled over on to his side and hurled up water and silt into the under growth. He felt a resassuring hand rubbing at his back and the weight of a blanket over his shaking shoulders. He coughed for what felt like ages and then a bottle of water was pressed into his shaking hand.

"Feeling better buddy?" It was an American accent and Ben squinted up into the dark eyes of a handsome young black soldier. Ben managed a nod, wondering what the hell had happened as he shivered with cold. Someone was helping him to his feet, no easy task considering how big he was. Shit, the boat.

"What happened?"

There was a soldier on either side of him holding him up.

"We saw the water go crazy and the boat going up in the air, so we got the dingy out there as soon as we could, pulled you and two others out of the water. The other two are ok, we just wanted to get you up on your feet so we can walk you back to base camp."

Ben shook his head as if to clear it.

"Who did you rescue?"

"Dr Bennett, she was swimming away from the area and a guy called McRae, he was also swimming. He said your other guy got pulled under by the water. We've got people out there looking but I think he may have drowned, sir."

Ben coughed and before he realised it he was in a canvas tent where it was much warmer and the soldiers steered him to a camp bed. Another uniformed figure arrived, a small woman with her hair stuffed under her beret rather haphazardly, a stethoscope around her neck. Ben allowed himself to be examined and a pile of green fatigues were pressed into his hands so he could change out of his wet things.

Sometime later he was talking to Commander Lexburgh and the UNIT officer showed him what had been filmed from the shore line, by four separate cameras that had been set up for the night time observations. Ben watched the screen of the laptop with nothing short of bewilderment written all over his face. At the end of it he turned to the Commander.

"I spent 10 years as a submariner and another 12 on the ocean with the Navy and I have never seen water behave like that." Was all he could come up with. "Please tell me that what I was watching was not all it appeared to be?"

Lexburgh sighed, feeling very uneasy. "We've gone over our readings and yours, before they cut out, there is nothing in the loch but water."

"So what, the water is alive?"

Lexburgh's eyebrows shots up. "No, I don't think so, I just think something is very good at controlling it."

"That's not possible."

"Which is why you are in Torchwood and I work for UNIT. Look I've contacted your Cardiff office, I'm waiting for them to call back, seems I got the tea lady answering the phones."

Somehow Ben wasn't surprised. He sighed worriedly. "You think Ianto is dead?"

"What do you think?"


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: I GUESS THIS CHAPTER COMES FROM MY LOVE 'BABYLON V' AND JAMES CAMERON'S FILM 'THE ABYSS'...... Sorry about the posting delay... back bad again and thankyou for such wonderful reviews.**

**PART NINE**

Jack, Owen, Tosh and Gwen stepped out of the UNIT helicopter and straight into an awaiting jeep that drove them through the dusky countryside to the shores of Loch Lomond. Jack impatiently drummed his fingers on the door and his three team members all jammed in the back with the equipment were looking thoroughly pissed off, not to mention slightly air sick in Owen's case. The driver offered up a quick glance in Jack's direction.

"I'll take you straight to commander Lexburgh, they just called off the search for Mr Jones because of the failing light. I think they're anticipating another light show about 10 pm tonight." He advised.

Jack nodded his heart sinking further down into his stomach. "Fine, thank you."

Ben greeted them at base camp which had been set up about 100m north of the Loch. He shook hands with Jack briefly and was quickly introduced to Jack's team. Tosh and Owen went and grabbed a trestle table and set straight to getting their computers on line and linked in with the UNIT ones. Jack and Gwen led Ben out of the crowded tent and they were met by a very harassed looking Commander Lexburgh. Jack was in no mood for pleasantries.

"What happened?"

Gwen was at his side, arms folded across her chest in an effort to keep warm, it was going to be a long night.

Ben sighed taking in the Welsh woman's obvious disinterest. "Straight answer? The water came alive and swallowed the boat. I saw it pull Ianto under, he was trying to swim, he had a life jacket on, he should have easily been able to save himself."

"So how come you're standing here and he's not?" Gwen demanded.

Ben shoved a hand through his short hair. "I don't know; the only thing I can think of is that Ianto was the one dropping the sensors into the water from the bow of the boat."

"Are they still transmitting?" Jack asked, realising that there was no point in getting shitty with Ben.

"No, the signals died the same time the boat was sunk."

Jack nodded and turned to Lexburgh. "Did your search teams find him?"

"I'm sorry Captain, nothing so far not even boat wreckage, nothing in fact and the water's gone back to being as calm as glass. I don't understand it." He glanced at his watch. "Look we're going to have a light show to deal with soon......"

"It can't be coincidental." Jack commented.

"I agree, I suggest we confer in an hour in the tent and see if we can come up some answers between us."

"Alright." There was no point in arguing, Jack had been about to suggest the same thing anyway.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Ianto Jones rolled over and exhaled the water from his lungs in great heaving attempts to breathe that resulted in violent retching and then coughing, his chest straining painfully to get some air which finally came. He flopped onto his back cold, wet and shivering and opened his eyes. He blinked the confusion from his brain and then realised that he wasn't seeing things. The water was above him, around him and he was lying in a flat bottomed bubble. Above him he could make out faint light coming from somewhere but otherwise it was the darkness that enveloped him. Ianto sat up his hands coming up covered in black peaty silt presumably from the bottom of the loch. The vulnerability of his situation suddenly hit him and he scrabbled about his soaking clothes in search of his mobile. It was ridiculous to think that it might still be working and he was right, it was completely dead. Carefully he got to his feet, still breathless. He could feel sludge rattling around in his lungs and he heaved again coughing up and expelling muddy water with sickly rasping. He spat the residue out and tried to calm his breathing again as he studied his feet sunk to the ankles in black silt. His eyes were adjusting and he wondered where the low level ambient light was coming from. He took a cautious couple of steps, his feet squelching in the silt and he reached a hand out to the edge of his..... he pondered the right word all too aware now of the fact that should this bubble burst it would probably take about two minutes for him to die. Raising his hand he gently edged it forwards, it was like pushing against an elastic invisible barrier.

"Please do not do that, the shield is delicate."

Ianto fell backwards with a yelp landing in the wet silt on his arse. He turned his head and his mouth dropped open in shock at the sight of something suspended in the water. Rather inelegantly he got back up and faced the creature that hung there it's shimmering appearance distorted by the barrier that separated him from.... well he didn't want to think about it. He took a cautious step forwards to get a better look and it was clear that the creature was doing the same, flapping forwards on gossamer like wings that propelled it through the murky water in a sheen of pale pink and blue luminesance. Ianto thought of a butterfly and then a fairy and settled on angel.

"Am I a prisoner?"

Ianto watched as a limb was outstretched almost touching the outer side of the bubble. Ianto couldn't help but smile, despite his fear, the thing was really quite beautiful.

"No, we mean you no harm Ianto Jones."

"You know my name." Feeling a little braver he stepped closer now able to see its narrow almond shaped face clearly, two great beads of black blinking back at him, gills on a long slender neck.

"Yes."

"So what is yours?" The great wings gently flapped again and two fingered hands danced through the water in steadying motion so it hovered at Ianto's height and they were face to face.

"Old, we are so old we have no names for you, what do you see?"

Ianto tilted his head to the left slightly and peered at it. "An angel fish, perhaps a water moth."

The creature appeared to think about this as it did so Ianto wandered how he could hear it so clearly, it's voice almost lyrical.

"I like Angel Fish, that is a pleasing name, may I take it?"

Ianto was smiling again, but his teeth began to chatter with cold. "I'm glad you like it, so how do you know my name?"

"We hear your song, it is why we brought you here. Many of your kind do not sing as you do, we cannot hear them. Your song is sad, but also speaks of great strength of will."

Ianto wasn't sure how to take that. "Can I ask why you are here?"

"In the water or on this world?"

"Both. I mean how long ?"

Angel Fish spun away and then came back, resettling itself in the current.

"We came before your race was born, we live in the water and when we are in space our watership takes us to other worlds, we are the last of my kind and we are very old."

Ianto detected a hint of pride in this. "How old?"

"The birth of the stars, we saw them being born, we see them die."

Ianto blinked at it understanding what that meant more than he cared to.

"That makes you sad Ianto Jones."

"I have a friend like you, he will be old one day and I think it is great burden to him."

"Eternity is the greatest curse and the greatest gift, but we are not eternals, we are the last of our kind."

"So why are you here on Earth?"

Angel Fish seemed to reluctant to answer and Ianto watched as it slipped away into the murky depths taking it's light with it. Ianto's heart sank and he was about to turn away when it came back. At least he assumed it was the same one.

"We are hiding Ianto Jones and we have been found."

"Hiding from whom?"

"The others, you call the lights in the sky, you have been watching them."

"They're looking for you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"They are old also, but we are opposites they are fire and we are water, there is no common ground between us."

Ianto shivered some more for a moment, he was really starting to ache with the chill now. "I am cold."

"I cannot give you heat, but soon will let you go so you can be warm again. A boat is coming an eternal and a mortal are in it and they are searching for you."

Ianto nodded, relieved at the news. "So what will happen if the lights find you?"

"We will do what we have always done, we will fight."

"But why?"

"Because that is all we know. I do not know the reason, it just is." It was a statement of fact.

"That is sad."

"You are the sad one, your sorrow runs deep."

"But at least I understand my sorrow, to not know why you fight is worse, especially if there are so few of you left."

Angel Fish seemed to consider this before replying. "Perhaps it is our time to end, let younger races flourish. We are too set in our ways. Change is painful and when you are as old as we are it is impossible."

Ianto knew he simply wouldn't and couldn't understand. "I hope it doesn't come to conflict if they find you."

"Conflict is inevitable. I have a message for your people. They must move away from the water to be safe, the lights will burn anything in their path, we wish you no harm, but they do not care so much for good manners."

Ianto smiled at Angel Fish. "If you survive, will you stay here? Will I be able to visit you?"

Angel Fish swooped down and then back up its face separated from Ianto's by mere inches and Ianto could clearly see black eye lashes a flat nose and tiny mouth if he imagined hard enough he could make out the delight in its eyes.

"I would like that, I would make you warmer next time.......but now I must let you go, the boat is almost..........."

A boom reverberated through the water knocking Ianto off his feet. Angel Fish shot away into the depths and the bubble collapsed.


	10. Chapter 10

**PART TEN**

The tent was crowded and Jack looked around at the sea of expectant and nervous faces. Tosh was still at the trestle table going over all the data and Gwen and Owen looked bored. Jack glanced at his watch and Lexburgh clapped his hands to get every one's attention.

"Alright, we're due for another light show in approximately forty five minutes, tell me what we have so far."

A UNIT tech who had been working along side Tosh started up.

"The readings from the Loch are all negative, if there is something in there then our instruments cannot detect it. When the boat went down, there were no energy spikes, no radiation, no anything... we can't even locate the boat. It's as if it got sucked into the void or something. There's still no sign of Mr Jones. Sorry sir, but we've got the best tech here and Torchwoods gear is better than ours and they haven't found anything either. As for the lights, apart from a brief burst of high intensity microwave radiation yesterday night, there's nothing other than what we can see in the visible light spectrum and what the Torchwood guys recorded on their camera and sensors and Miss Sato can take you through that." He stepped back and Tosh smiled at him.

"Unfortunately I can't add much more, it's a case of what you see is what you get, the lights in the sky register as just that, the only thing I can add is that they emit a very low level of heat and I can't be certain that the microwave burst even came from the lights."

"In other words we know stuff all." Owen commented shivering with cold and wishing he'd brought a more sensible coat.

Jack glared at his medic before turning to the UNIT commander.

"What do you think?"

Lexburgh huffed out a sigh. "I was about to ask you the same thing."

Jack had to admire his honesty really.

"Look I want to go back onto the loch to try and locate Ianto and the boat. I'll commandeer one of yours and take Ben with me out to where the boat went down. The rest of my team are at your disposal, but let Tosh handle the tech, she's the best here......"

Owen was looking distinctly unimpressed and Tosh tried not to blush with embarrassment.

"Captain may I remind you that Jones has been in the almost freezing water for almost 7 hours, he is highly unlikely to be alive, you'd be more use to us here." Lexburgh tried not to sound as annoyed as he felt.

Jack just grinned at him. "Ianto's tough and I am not about to give up on him just yet. Just give me one boat, we have our own med kit and Ben is a doctor and has loads of naval years under his belt, he is all I need out there."

Gwen watched the proceedings with interest, thinking that Jack was wasting his time, but Lexburgh nodded thoughtfully.

"I'll have command on shore?"

Jack nodded. "All I care about is finding my operative, just keep my people on the shore out of harm's way and you can do what the hell you like so long as you don't start an interplanetary incident."

"Alright, agreed."

"Thank you." Jack turned to Ben who standing behind him. "You ok with that?"

Ben eagerly nodded his agreement.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From the darkness on the middle of the loch, the sounds of the soldiers were deadened by the thick mist that settled just above the surface of the black water. Ben had turned off the little petrol engine and he and Jack were leaning out of opposite ends of the boat with large flashlights, white beams gliding into the depths of the fog, but not by far. Jack eased them along a little way with the oars his eyes searching the darkness.

Above them five balls of light suddenly appeared. They looked like faint halos through the mist, fizzing about blindly. Ben and Jack gazed upwards for a moment mesmerised by the sight. It took Ben a moment to register that the water was beginning to ripple, rocking the dinghy and he returned his attention to the Loch peering into the gloom. The lights continued to bob and the sounds of shouting could be heard in the distance. The shouts became screams of panic as a deafening boom thundered through the night. Water shot up into the air and cascaded down upon them violently tipping the boat from the side to side. The Loch bubbled and hissed and Jack and Ben waved their flashlights across the undulating surface.

"Jesus what the Fuck is going on?"

The water surged upwards, suddenly luminous beneath them, the boat pitching precariously.

"Oh shit. Something's surfacing!" Ben yelled as he gripped the sides for dear life.

The two men watched fascinated as the water broiled beneath them, glowing so brightly now that the whole Loch was awash with yellow light. Another boom resounded from above and fire exploded across the water. Ben and Jack only just ducked down in time as the flames flashed over them. Jack looked up suddenly drawn to something floating on the water.

"Ianto!"

He grabbed the oars and rowed for all he was worth as the boat was pitched violently and Ben leaned out grabbing the motionless body and dragging it over the side. Jack was there helping him and heaving Ianto on to his back. Ben got straight to work heedless of what was going on around him. Uncaring as the luminous ship broke the surface of the Loch and shot up into the air plunging them back into darkness as the all the lights disappeared into the night as quickly as it had come. The water stilled and Ianto refused to breathe. Ben knew it was useless, but he tried anyway, pumping away at Ianto's chest and breathing into his cold, blue mouth. Jack was kneeling at his side unravelling a silver thermal cover and muttering curses. The boat dipped and bobbed with their movements in the cramped space, Ben kept working determined and finally Jack pushed him back.

"What are you doing?"

Jack looked at him and Ben could see in the faint light the tears on Jack's face. Jack looked down at Ianto's stark white face and shoved his torch into Ben's grasp.

"This might work, I tried it once before and it did."

Ben watched somewhat horrified as Jack kissed the dead man at their knees, a hand splayed across Ianto's unmoving chest. Minutes past and Ben looked up suddenly aware of what looked like fireworks high up in the night sky above them. It was a beautiful sight, brilliant blossoms in the dark of night exploding over their heads. A breath was hauled in, ragged and choking and suddenly Ianto was kicking out and struggling and Ben looked down in shock into startled brilliant blue. Ianto wasn't looking at him, he was looking at the sky.

"Jack, Angel Fish, did it get away?"

Jack too relieved to really take in the question just gaped at him and then he looked up and saw the fire.

"Jack?" Ianto sounded desperate and Jack didn't have an answer for him because he wasn't sure he understood.

"I don't know Ianto. I don't know."

Ianto lay there on his back, his eyes reflecting the battle above them.

**AN: I hope this has worked and made sense.... one more chappy to go...maybe two...**

**GDL's panto is BRILLIANT, go and see it!**


	11. Chapter 11

**PART ELEVEN**

Ianto huddled in the bed, still cold and achy from his immersion in the Loch. He had come close to drowning, he remembered that much clearly but he could not make sense of the memories of luminous fish and fireworks in the night sky and no one was telling him anything. He opened his eyes to the sight of a UNIT nurse busying herself with his drip and smiling down at him with big friendly dark eyes.

"Hello Mr Jones, how are you feeling?" Her Scottish accent rather ruined the effect. Ianto hadn't thought it possible that such a horrible noise could issue from such a pretty mouth.

Ianto blinked stupidly at her, he wasn't sure how he felt.

"Cold." He suddenly realised he was swathed in thick pyjamas and woollen mittens.

"You're warming up nicely, should be feeling it soon."

"How long have I been here?"

"A few hours." It was Ben, off to his left and Ianto turned his head to see his colleague looking relieved more than anything.

"What happened Ben, are you ok?"

Ben perched on the edge of the bed, Ianto's medical charts in his hands.

"I'm fine boss, I wasn't hurt. We're not sure what happened. To be honest I was hoping you could tell us."

Ianto rolled his eyes with exhausted frustration. "We were on the boat, I remember falling into the water. I....I dreamt about angel fish and fireworks and then I remember..... you and Jack, did you save me?"

Ben was frowning at him. "Boss you were in the water for a day, we couldn't find you and then the Cardiff team turned up. Jack and I went out on to the Loch and found you floating dead in the water. I don't know what it was that Harkness did..... While we were on the boat a ship flew out of the loch, it wasn't that big but as soon as it was up in the air the lights converged on it. I've never seen anything like it." He stopped when he heard Ianto sigh. "Boss?"

"Where's Jack?"

"He's still on sight helping UNIT with the clean up. I think his team are heading straight back to Cardiff."

"I need to speak to Jack, can you get him here?"

Ben got to his feet. "I'll go and call him, but you need to rest. Everything is under control."

Ianto nodded. "Thanks Ben." He closed his eyes and drifted off into the black for a while. Ben watched him with a faint smile on his face.

Jack had lost track of time but he was tired and cranky when the phone call through from Ben. He packed his team into the helicopter and told them he'd be back in Cardiff the following day. Gwen and Owen were both complaining bitterly about being sent home without him. The call came from Ben as he was being driven in the back of a UNIT truck to the base just the opposite of Glasgow. He couldn't help but heave out a sigh of relief when Ben told him that Ianto was asking for him. It was almost an hour later when Jack got there, tired and dirty from the ordeal.

Ianto was sleeping when Jack stepped into the room. Ben was at his side checking the various pieces of medical equipment attached to Ianto before looking up with a faint smile on his face. Jack was looking somewhat concerned.

"It looks a lot worse than it is. Really he's going to be fine, he'll just need a couple of weeks of decent rest."

Jack nodded numbly and took the chair at Ianto's bedside and resting his hand over Ianto's covered arm. Jack watched the younger man's pale face intently and then briefly glanced up at Ben who was now at the door.

"Thank you."

Ben nodded. "I'll organise some coffee you look shattered."

Jack was. "That would be good."

Jack returned his attention to Ianto as Ben left, quietly closing the door behind him. Ianto looked peaceful enough, though in sleep the Welshman generally had as far as Jack could recall, before the nightmares kicked in, that was. He leant back in the chair too vividly recalling the ordeal of a year he had no idea how to explain and a following six months recovering in the safety of the Tardis. The Doctor had done his level best with both him and Martha, but Jack knew that the ordeal would live him for a very long time to come. When it came down to it all he had wanted was to come home to his 'family'. To make sure Gwen got her dream wedding, to maybe see Owen and Tosh finally seeing each other, and making things right with Ianto. Jack clenched the fist that was resting on the bed covers. He knew that the Doctor had been disappointed when Jack left him, but he had never counted on Ianto not being there when he returned, it had simply not occur to him and it was a shock. Owen and Tosh were blinder than ever and Gwen, although engaged had somehow lost her way with Rhys. Torchwood had flourished at the cost of the people who ran it. Jack sighed realising that dreams simply never did come true. He'd spent years wanting his brother back and his dad alive and well. He wanted to be a family with Lucia and Melissa, be a good father....... Nothing ever worked. Now Ianto had become his own man, no longer needing him and maybe that was a good thing. What right did he have to take away Ianto's strength and independence? Jack looked at the man lying there, oblivious to his presence, his own longing almost overwhelming him. Eventually he stood up and briefly brushed his lip across Ianto's forehead.

"Good night Ianto." He stepped back and left the room and almost collided with Ben with coffee cups in hand. Jack smiled at him and took one of the paper cups.

"I'm heading back. There'll be debrief via video conference when Ianto is back on his feet." He hauled in a deep steadying breath. "Take care of him Ben."

Ben watched as Jack walked away, with shoulders slumped.

Jack out strode into the night and pulled out his mobile phone and dialled the Doctor's number.

**FINIS....**


End file.
